LESSONS FROM A BLIND MAN

( JOHN 9:1-41 )
INTRODUCTION:
1. Good morning, please open up your Bibles to ( John 9:1-41).
Today's lesson will be gleaned from this passage. Read the
passage.
2. When Jesus' performed miracles, we see Him at some of His most
compassionate moments.
3. Why did Jesus perform miracles? Jesus performed miracles for a
number of reasons:
a. To express His love.
b. To provide a springboard to teach spiritual truth.
c. To give evidence of His Messiahship.
4. In (John 9), we see that Jesus healed a blind man.

FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE CAN LEARN

SEVERAL LESSONS.

I.

FIRST, THIS MIRACLE REMINDS US OF

THE DEVASTATING NATURE OF SIN.

1. In the very first verse, we see that Jesus encountered a man born
blind. This man had never seen a sunset, a rainbow, or the early
morning sun. He had never seen his mother's face or his own
reflection in a mirror.
2. This man did not suffer from blindness because of a particular sin
he had committed but his blindness was certainly the result of sin
in general.
3. The prevailing opinion in regard to sin today is that we shouldn't
get to disturbed about it. Some people say that sin is harmless.
However, we must realize that sin brings corruption, disease,
destruction and death into our world.
4. The next time you walk the hallways in a hospital or nursing home,
or even the next time you stand at a cemetery. . . instead of asking
"Why would God allow this?" we should ask ourselves: " After
seeing the devastating effect of sin on the lives of those around us, why
do we continue to play with sin? Why don't we get serious about
rooting sin from our life? Why are we so slow to take aggressive
action against sin?
5. From the miracle in (John 9), we see the devastating nature of sin.

II.

SECOND, FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE

SEE THE ALL-SURPASSING POWER OF
THE SAVIOR.

1. During Jesus' ministry, He cured a variety of needs. He healed the

blind, the lame, and the demon-possessed. He brought health to a
woman with an issue of blood, relief to Peter's mother-in-law with
her fever. He brought a little boy back from the dead and returned
him to his mother. There was no infirmity, no weakness, and no
problem that Jesus could not heal.
2. When Jesus healed, He used a variety of methods. On some
occasions he laid hands on a person, on others He said a prayer, in
still others He put his fingers into a man who was deaf. Here He
uses mud on a blind mans eyes. Why did He use so many different
methods? I think that Jesus wanted to make sure we were not
concerned with the method but were concerned with the one doing
the healing.
3. In our text the Pharisees and other people kept asking the recently
healed blind man the same question: "how did He do it." My
friends, Jesus did what man cannot do on their own. They should
not have been concerned about the how . . . . they should have
been seeking the "Who?". At this moment in your life, you may be
wondering how you are going to overcome your depression, your
cancer, your heart trouble, or your physical troubles. Instead of
wondering how, you ought to be seeking the Who! Jesus is the
Who that can take care of your problems. Jesus still has the power
and the desire to heal you. He can heal our illnesses. He can take
our hopeless situations and turn them into hope. He did this for
the blind man and He can do this for you.

III. THIRD, FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE SEE

OUR STUBBORN RESISTANCE TO
GOD'S WORK IN OUR LIVES.
1. In this story, the neighbors and leaders of this man's community
were suspicious of the healing. They thought something fishy was
going on. Look at what they did to escape the reality of what
happened:
a. They questioned the reality of what happened (v. 8).
b. They accused Jesus of being a law breaker (v. 16).
c. They sought to intimidate the parents of the man (v.22).
d. They attacked the integrity of the witness (v. 28).
2. All these things were done to keep from giving credit to God for a
great miracle. We use many of the same devices to keep from
recognizing God's work in our lives.
3. Sometimes, we have a Pharisaical hardness that says we will not
believe or acknowledge anything that is outside of our experience.
We try to put God in a box. We have Him narrowly defined and will
not allow anything new to expand our picture. This is wrong.
4. God doesn't fit into our theological box. He is much bigger than
we imagine. He is doing things today that we are not giving Him
credit for. We need to start praising God more for the marvelous
things that He is doing all around us.

IV. LASTLY, FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE

SEE THE SIMPLE NATURE OF
PERSONAL WITNESSING.
1. Christians often view sharing their faith as the dissemination of
textbooks of information. If we are not armed with tons of Scripture
and have answers to every conceivable question we feel we must
remain silent. But thats not true.
2. In (John 9), we see this man share his simple testimony. The
Pharisees said, "Give glory to God, We know this man is a sinner."
Now listen to the man's simple and beautiful response: "Whether
He is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind
but now I see!" (vs. 25).
3. Did you see that? He doesn't worry about what He can't answer. He
simply testifies to what he has seen and knows to be true. Jesus
does not ask us to teach theology He asks us to testify of our
relationship and our faith.
4. We can learn a lot from this man. Our simple expression of what
Christ has done in our lives will impact those around us for the
gospel.

5. Chuck Swindoll gives us some good advice on giving a personal

testimony:
a. You want to be listened to, so be interesting. We should avoid
spiritual words and phrases, which the non-believer would not
understand.
b. You want to be understood, so be logical. The best way is to tell
what your life was like before you met the Savior, how you came to
give your life to Him and what has happened since.
c. You want the moment of your new birth to be clear so be specific.
We must point to Christ, not the church. The church is important
but only Christ can save.
d. You want your testimony to be used, so be practical. There is no
sense making empty promises such as "all your problems will go
away." It's not true and it won't help.
e. You want your testimony to produce result, so be warm and
genuine. It helps to smile and show love for the one you are talking
to.
6. Our simple testimony can be used by God to reach those who are
lost. It is time for us to share the good news of what Jesus has
accomplished in our lives.

CONCLUSION:
1. In closing, we have learned several lessons from the healing of the
blind man.
a. First, this miracle reminds us of the devastating nature of sin.
b. Second, we see the all-surpassing power of the Savior.
c. Third, we see our stubborn resistance to God's work in our lives.
d. Lastly, we see the simple nature of personal witnessing.
2. I hope and pray that this lesson has been beneficial to you. If you
would like to respond to the Lord's invitation, please come now as
we stand and sing.